Rube Goldberg Machine
Our first project of 9th grade STEM (Physics and Engineering) was a Rube Goldberg Machine. "A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overcomplicated fashion. Often, these machines consist of a series of simple devices that are linked together to produce a domino effect, in which each device triggers the next one, and the original goal is achieved only after many steps."(Wikipedia Definition). For our project we had 9 days to build our machine and a few days to finalize it and create our presentation. When we completed the projects, the class held a presentation night at the school for parents and others to watch the presentations. We also had outsde parties as judges assigned to each group. These judges watched the presentations and judged based on the rubric provided.
This project incoperated aspects of both Physics and Engineering. We calculated the physics of our project which furthered the understanding of what we learned in class. The engineering portion of the curriculem was represented in the construction of our project. This project was not only a collaberation of skills but a collaboration of group members and ideas. For our group, the most difficult part of this project was the division of work as well as time managment. The easiest part was listening to each other and our ideas. Overall, the project was a success which allowed myself and others to develop leadership and collaboration skills.
This is the Presentation slideshow for our first project, a Rube Goldberg Machine. Our groups theme was Under the Sea, which is also the title of our board.
*Both the original and final blueprints for the project are located within the slide show
Construction Log
Day 1: Cut Ramps, Painted Board, Started building Supports
Day 2: Built Wheel & Axle, Continued building supports
Day 3: Attached Ramps, Finished and attached supports
Day 4: Worked on Pulley System, Modified wheel
Day 5: Finished attaching ramps, attached wheel & axle, Began working on corksrews, Finished up pulley system
Day 6: Began working on levers, Continued working on corkscrews
Day 7: Finished up Levers, Start attching corkscrews, Modify wheel
Content
Graviatational Potential and Kinetic Energy: Potential Energy is the energy an object has due to its position at a height or in a graviattional field. Kinetic energy is energy and object has due to motion. We calculated these using the following methods and equations. PE=Mass x Gravity x Height (PE=Mgh); KE= 1/2 mass x Velocity² (KE=1/2MV²). The unit for Potential and Kinetic energy is Joules( J)
Velocity: Velocity is a rate of distance covered in one direction. Velocity and speed are similar, although velocity is a vector quantity and speed is a scaler quantity. In other words direction matters for velocity but not for speed. To calculate velocity use the following equation. V=change in distance/ change in time (V=d/t) The units is meters per second(m/s)
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, speeding up or slowing down. The equation used to calculate acceleration is A= Velocity/Time (A=V/T). The unit for acceleration is meters per second² (m/s²)
Force: Force is the push or pull on an object. The equation to calculate force is F= Mass x Acceleration (F=MA). The unit for force is Newtons (N)
Real and Ideal Mechanical Advantage:
Real mechanical advantage- How much easier a tool makes a task. The equation for this is Force load/ Force effort(Fl/Fe). There is no unit because it is a ratio.
Ideal mechanical advantage- How much further you have to push due to using a tool. The equation is Distance effort/Distance load (De/Dl). Again there is no unit because it is a ratio.
Work: Work is the amount of energy put into something. To find work, the following equation is used. W=Force x Distance. The unit work is measured is in Joules(J). Work is equal to Potential and Kinetic energy.
Simple Machines
Wheel and Axle: The wheel and axle is the beginning step of our project. This is used to spin a car onto an inclined plane.
Inclined Planes: On this project, we have two inclined planes (both are sloped down, one barely has a slope, but it is still there). On the first one, a car will roll down it, and on the second one, a marble will roll across it and fall through a hole.
Pulley: The pulley on our project is used to catch the car as it rolls off the first inclined plane. The box that the car falls into, then goes and knocks a marble down into the next step.
Levers: There are two levers are on this project, and they are located right next to each other. The bigger lever will hit the smaller one, and knock a marble onto the next step.
Screws: Again, there are two corkscrews on this project. They are very slight corkscrews and only make a partial rotation around the base. These corkscrews are used to maneuver the marbles from one step to another.